California Democratic candidates Mayor Karen Bass and Xavier Becerra refuted President Donald Trump’s claim that there is cheating in the primary mayoral and gubernatorial elections.
The president took to Truth Social late Wednesday night theorizing that there is no official word on who will advance to the runoff election for Los Angeles mayor and California governor because the Democrats are cheating the system.
“The Dumocrats are at it again! They are trying to STEAL THE GOVERNOR OF CALIFORNIA PRIMARY, AND THE MAYOR OF LOS ANGELES, PRIMARY, AWAY FROM TWO GREAT REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES. Here we go with the very late and massive numbers of MAIL IN BALLOTS,” he wrote Wednesday night.
“Votes are all tied up. May not be in for weeks,” he continued. “Under investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles. Why the vote counting DELAY???”
Mayor Bass replied Thursday afternoon, stating that the president only makes these allegations when “MAGA candidates, like Spencer Pratt, start losing.”
Trump only says this when MAGA candidates, like Spencer Pratt, start losing.
— Karen Bass (@KarenBassLA) June 4, 2026
LA will count every vote. pic.twitter.com/gNi5m13uq7
Her mayoral opponent, who was endorsed by President Trump, is currently polling in second with 29.4% of the vote. Councilmember Nithya Raman narrowed the gap between her and Pratt both Wednesday and Thursday. She’s polling with 6 points behind the reality star with 23.4% of the vote.
Mayor Bass has already been confirmed that she will advance to the November runoff.
Former Biden Cabinet secretary Xavier Becerra also fired back at President Trump for his skepticism around the election Thursday.
“He lost California by millions of votes in the 2024 election, and now he’s trying to undermine confidence in our elections because he’s a repeat loser here,” he wrote on X. “Sorry Donald, the voters decide who leads California. Not you.”
Donald Trump lost the 2020 election. He lost California by millions of votes in the 2024 election, and now he's trying to undermine confidence in our elections because he’s a repeat loser here.
— Xavier Becerra (@XavierBecerra) June 4, 2026
Sorry Donald, the voters decide who leads California. Not you. pic.twitter.com/juhpYvJ0LP
The former California attorney general is currently polling in second position for the governor’s seat behind Trump-backed Republican candidate Steve Hilton. The former Fox News commentator is leading with 27.2% with Becerra closely behind with 25.9% of the vote and billionaire hedge fund founder Tom Steyer in third with 20.1%.
Two days post-election only 58% of the votes in the governor’s race have been counted and only 66% of the votes in the mayor’s race. California is notoriously slow for counting votes. Californians may not have final results in some races for weeks after the election day.
The delay is in part because the state made efforts to make voting easier since COVID. Every registered California voter gets a mail-in ballot, and ballots are valid as long as they’re postmarked by Election Day and arrive at county elections offices within seven days of the election. That grace periods may be at risk with the U.S. Supreme Court currently weighing a change that would require mail-in ballots to arrive by Election Day.
